In the game Turing Tumble, players must use problem-solving techniques to build a path for the balls to come down a specific path, ensuring that they meet the output required by the manual book. Turing Tumble is not just a game about coordination, but rather, requires the player to plan, compose and build a path for the ball to complete. The game is engaging and interesting and the manual book included a comic for students to read as they solved each puzzle. Each level included a starting position for all the blocks as well as informing you of the pieces you would be allowed to use to solve the puzzle.

On the turing tumble website it states “computers are full of ingenious logic and astonishing creativity…with Turing Tumble you can see how computers work” (https://www.turingtumble.com/), through the inclusion of many pieces which have different functions, students must consider the different paths of the balls and their required output before adding pieces to the path. As students are required to piece together a path for the ball, they are involved in constructing and deconstructing a path to fulfil a specific purpose. The term ‘constructionism’ was derived from Papert (1991) and relates to the idea that children learn best when they are involved in making something themselves rather than being presented with knowledge and answers directly. Constructionism challenges the ideas of the 21st century, where students are constantly consuming knowledge and rather, invites them to be co-creators of knowledge through building and collaborating with others. While constructionism is often confused with constructivism, the two learning concepts do have a few things in common (Groff 2013), that is that authentic learning occurs when building onto prior knowledge structures in meaningful ways.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority state that “in a world which is digitised and automated, it is critical to the wellbeing of society that students can be creative and discerning decision-makers” (ACARA, 2019), through using Turing Tumble, students can experience deep knowledge and understanding of digital systems while also being involved in creating this knowledge through a hands-on approach. It is imperative also that educating students about digital technologies also includes opportunities for offline tasks, which foster curiosity, creativity, persistence and cooperation and ‘Turing Tumble’ can fulfil all of those qualities.

References:

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2019). Rationale: Digital Technologies, retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/technologies/digital-technologies/rationale/.

Donaldson, J. (2014). The Maker Movement and the Rebirth of Constructionism, Hybrid Pedagogy, retrieved from http://hybridpedagogy.org/constructionism-reborn/.

Dougherty, D. (2015). The Maker Mindset, retrieved from https://llk.media.mit.edu/courses/readings/maker-mindset.pdf.

Groff, J. S. (2013). Expanding our “frames” of mind for education and the arts. Harvard Educational Review, 83(1), 15–39.

Martinez, S. (2019). The Maker Movement: A Learning Evolution, International Society for Technology in Education.

Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Preface. In I. Harel & S. Papert (Eds.), Constructionism: Research reports and essays, 1985–1990, 1-23.

Virtual reality is having the experience of things which do not really exist through the use of computers. There are a few different levels of virtual reality which differ in their involvement of self into reality, these include, fully immersive (e.g. using a head-mounted display), non-immersive, collaborative e.g. Minecraft or web-based. Dede (2009) states that immersive virtual reality involves “a willing suspension of disbelief” and therefore, sets up users in a new imaginary world. Through this, students experience forces, vibrations, movement and motions to immerse them in this new world.

People who are on the autism spectrum have differing abilities to communicate with others, VR technologies have recently gained attention for their affordances for people who are on the autistic spectrum. This is due to the ability to be able to practice their social skills, control verbal and non-verbal features on different systems and practise behaviours and the mental simulation of events to practice social problem solving (Parsons and Cobb, 2011). Through Parsons (2016) discussion, the use of VR to investigate social interactions is based on the belief that VR technologies produce authentic and realistic experiences and in this way, can form a basis for social ‘norms’.

While Virtual Reality is often seen through many games, it can be an effective way to assist student learning, through enabling students to consider multiple perspectives, being situated in a specific experience and students can learn to transfer knowledge to be applied in different situations. As well as this, it removes distractions and promotes engagement in the classroom. An example of a virtual reality program which can assist students social skills is the game Sims. In Sims, students must navigate a character around to build their city and to interact with others. While players have the freedom of what the character does, they must select from a range of common behavioural characteristics. One of the major benefits of Sims to people on the autism spectrum is it’s ability to be used collaboratively.

Virtual reality has limitless possibilities in terms of assisting students with learning difficulties. Students who are on the autism spectrum can do specific social learning and practice on virtual reality systems rather than spending resources hiring experts to assist them. As well as this, people who live rurally may not have access to applied behavioural therapist and therefore it may be a good alternative. Although, educators must be aware that ‘cybersickness’, a term derived from Davis, Nesbitt and Nalivaiki, (2014) can be a health risk of Immersive Virtual Reality, therefore, attention to the time which students are on VR systems is critical to managing cybersickness.

References:

Bradley, R., Newbutt, N. (2018). Autism and Virtual Reality head mounted displays: a state of the art systematic review, Journal of Enabling Technologies, 12(3), 101-113.

Dalgarno, B., & Lee, M. J. (2010). What are the learning affordances of 3‐D virtual environments?, British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(1), 10-32.

Dede, C. (2009). Immersive interfaces for Engagement and Learning, Science, 323, 66-69.

Parsons, S. Cobbs, S. (2011). State-of-the-art of virtual reality technologies for children on the autism spectrum, European Journal of Special Needs Education, 26(3), 355-366.

Southgate, E. (2018). Immersive virtual reality, children and school education: A literature review for teachers, DICE Report Series Number 6, 1-19.

Vesisenaho, S. et al. (2019). Virtual Reality in Education: Focus on the Role of Emotions and Physiological Reactivity, Virtual Worlds Research, 12(1), 1-15.

With the growing number of diagnosed learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and ADHD, technology is rapidly seeking to overcome barriers to student learning. Through this, students now have more access to many different types of learning through lots of different augmented reality apps such as Osmo. Augmented reality is defined in a broad sense by “augmenting feedback to the operator with simulated cues” (Milgram et al p.283), a few other features which define augmented reality is it’s real time interaction, accurate imitations of 3D of real and virtual objects and combines real and virtual worlds.

Osmo’s website claims it is a “groundbreaking system that fosters social intelligence and creative thinking by opening up the iPad and iPhone to endless possibilities of physical play”. Theorists such as Papert, suggest that students learn best when they are involved in creating their own knowledge through constructing or deconstructing knowledge, named the “constructionist” learning theory. While there may be sufficient evidence to suggest this to be true, students learn best through multiple methods and physical manipulation of objects can be beneficial to students learning. This is especially true when considering students with ADHD, where the physical embodiment of enacting knowledge assists students to retaining motivation, engagement and enjoyment.

Osmo has 3 main functions and users must buy each program to go with their iPad/iPhone. Along with these functions are different objects which users must use in order to operate the program. For the maths program, users are provided different number tiles, the tangram program includes different shape tangram pieces, while the english word program includes letters. One of the great features of the english program is that students can place tiles of certain words under the Osmo reader and it will place the letters in order. This is an extremely beneficial feature for both young children who have difficulty placing letters in order but is also groundbreaking for students with dyslexia. This app overcomes the barriers of having to spell every word in the correct order and instead awards points when users can correctly identify letters in a word. As well as this, the tangram program is lots of fun and allows students lots of flexibility in creating their own shapes through using the skills learnt prior in the app.

Wu et al (2013) discuss the affordances and features of augmented reality programs, as typical of technological tools, Osmo and other augmented reality programs are able to engage students and revitalise typically mundane learning activities through including virtuals worlds. As well as this, students can interact with synthetic objects which can enhance their enjoyment and participation, as well as this, Wu et al (2013) state that augmented realities can “bridge formal and informal learning”, therefore maths and english practice through the app Osmo can influence students intrinsic motivation for learning these subjects and strengthen students knowledge schemas through repetitive practice in physically tangible ways.

References

• Bower, M., Howe, C., McCredie, N., Robinson, A., Grover, D. (2014). Augmented reality in Education – cases, places and potentials, Educational Media International, 51(1), pp.1-15.
• Papert, S. 1980. Mindstorms. Children, Computers and Powerful Ideas. New York: Basic books.
• Milgram, P., Takemura, H., Utsumi, A., & Kishino, F. (1994). Augmented reality: a class of displays on the reality–virtuality continuum. Proceedings the SPIE: Telemanipulator and Telepresence Technologies, 2351, 282–292.
• Wu, H., Lee, S., Chang, H., Liang, J. Current Status, opportunities and challenges of augmented reality in education, Computers & Education, 62, pp.41-49.

Sketch up is a 3D design software with a wide range of drawing applications. It is used in a range of workplaces such as architecture, interior design, landscaping, engineering as well as game design. As mentioned previously, technology should teach and equip students with real-life capabilities to assist integrations into professional workplaces later on.

Design thinking is an analytic and creative process that engages a person in opportunities to experiment, create and prototype models, gather feedback and redesign things in an iterative fashion.

Razzouk and Shute pg. 2, 2013.

Design-based learning is a way to build a project through testing and evaluating the effectiveness of a model. Larillard (2012) discusses that design-based learning begins when students integrate their understandings, motivations and interests, while teachers consider how they would like their students to learn and the exact skills which they will take away. Design-based learning integrates many rich ways of learning, including critiquing one’s own ideas and making changes in order to improve a product. This process of trial and improvement through designing a product allows students to build their own resilience and broaden their problem-solving ability.

In the program SketchUp, teachers can cater to students interest through activities which include students prior experiences. Educators can ask students to use the technology to cater for a particular need e.g. designing an garden which would survive on the moon. In doing so, students must gather information and research aspects of the project which is unknown to them and through this process, the teacher may guide and challenge their ideas. Design-based learning requires students to plan and usually begins as a vague plan on how a particular place/product should look. SketchUp’s abilities to create lifelike 3D imaging allows students to visualise and experiment with their design product and then make the necessary adjustments. As the process continues, students must refine their plan and then consider how it meets the design brief.

While SketchUp is easy to access and navigate, students can not have access to it at home unless they buy the costly program themselves. But through using it in a school environment, students will then be more competent when working in jobs which require these programs.

References:

• Laurillard, D. (2012). Chapter 5 – What it takes to teach. In Teaching as a Design Science – Building Pedagogical Patterns for Learning and Technology, pp. 64-81.
• Kuo, M., Chuang, T. (2013). Developing a 3D Game Design Authoring Package to Assist Students’ Visualization Process in Design Thinking, IGI Global, pp.1-13.

In our globalised world today, one commonality which many share, is an interest in music and the stimulation and enjoyment which it provides. Over the past few years, many schools have begun investing more into arts programs as the benefits of creativity to students has begun to be seen. King (2012) discusses the importance of integrating creativity with technology as educators teach competent individuals who are equipped for the future (p.2). Through technology, he argues that students can be digital storytellers who merge interdisciplinary subjects to express and create meaning in music.

Sibelius is a music composition software, similar to the renown app “Garageband”, although has many distinct features. While Garageband can be used by the amateur musician to compose instrumental sections and layer sounds on top of each other, Sibelius requires basic music knowledge to notate and create music. However, while the disadvantage to Sibelius may be that students are required to have a basic knowledge of music, the compositions which can be created are complex and meet the demands of the real-world. Sibelius leaves more room for student creativity through the wide selection of instruments and through accessing a program which is used professionally. One problem as mentioned by Thomas (2012) is that teaching music is different to teaching music technology and many educators would feel fearful of using new technologies if they haven’t received the appropriate training for using it.

However, Rosen states that “we predict that under the right guidance and implementation, music technology courses can develop students’ self-efficacy for creative tasks and self-awareness of the creative process through experiential learning and authentic assessments” and through this, in facilitating creative thoughts, educators should build on students prior experiences and tie projects to students own interests. In this way, we see that using technology to increase and allow students to express their own creativity can form the foundation for expressing and sharing stories and meaning through audio.

Guilford (1957) states that general creativity seems to be multidimensional in nature, creativity comprises of four divergent thinking abilities: originality, fluency, flexibility and elaboration. Through this, we can see that programs such as Sibelius can assist students in using their divergent thinking abilities through notating music which allows them to share themselves, facilitates improvisation, foster opportunities for feedback meanwhile also providing parameters and limitations which remove distractions for students on technology.

• Bower, M. (2017). Technology Affordances and Multimedia Learning Effects, Design of technology-enhanced learning: integrating research and practice, Emerald Publishing, UK, 65-89.
• Guilford, J.P. (1957). Creative ability in the Arts, Psychological Review, 64(2), 110-118.
• Kiehn, M. (2003). Development of Music Creativity Among Elementary School Students, 51(4), 278-288.
  King, M.D. (2012). Digital Storytelling, Principal Leadership, 13(2), 36-40.
• Rosen, D et al. (2013). Utilizing Music Technology as a Model for Creativity
  Development in K-12 Education, 341-344.
• Thompson, D.E. (2012). Music Technology and Music Creativity: Making Connections, 25(3), 54-57.